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Beth Dooner - The Cosplayer behind the camera - part 2 of 1 2

Published 01/10/2015

The Cosplayers At Home was Beth's final major project in her third year, andshe's been continuing to shoot the project as personal work even afterthe deadline had passed. 'I've been doing cosplay since I was 13, so it feltnatural to use the contacts that I already had to build a project around.'For many people it's hard to settle on the right idea for a long-termphotographic project but Beth was quick to settle on an idea. 'It startedfrom chatting with some friends about the cosplay community and howit is often depicted in the media. Whenever a convention is coming upthere's always a piece about the weird people who live in their parents'basements, and it's just not true! Well, it's true about some people, butcosplay has such a rich and diverse community and I wanted to show that.'

'It was all about the personality behind the costume. Some portraits Itook felt like you'd expect that costume to belong with that room andpersonality, yet in some images it's a real contrast in a way that youdon't expect. So really it was about playing with that humour and thecontrasts, and getting a glimpse into someone's life that you might notget at a convention.' But what does Beth plan to do with the picturesshe's gathering of cosplayers in their homes? 'Ideally I'd like to make abook. People in the cosplay community have expressed an interest andI think because of the nature of the images, there's lots of details in theshots that you can miss in a web-sized image - it's really a project that issuited to print.'

It's not all about the big picture either, a large project like this can alsobegin to produce other stories too. 'I'd also like to eventually submit theproject to Sunday supplements or broadsheets. I've had interest fromsome magazines about some of the stories within the project.' Beth nowactively looks for gaps in her projects and then seek out cosplayers toshoot who provide something new; 'There was a point where I had mostlywomen in my project because I was more comfortable going into women'sbedrooms to shoot. I had to really push myself to involve other genders. Ialso recognised that there were other interesting roads to go down, such ascosplayers from a different religion to myself, perhaps someone who has toincorporate the way they live and dress into their costume somehow.'

But what I really wanted to know was, what's the key to sustaining yourinterest in a long-term documentary project like this? 'You've got to havethe passion for it and you've got to want to shoot it. There's no point indoing something like The cosplayers At Home if you don't want to findthe stories or if you don't really want to get under the skin of what you'rephotographing. You must be prepared for the disappointment of thingsnot always going to plan, for travelling, for finding people to photograph,and for pushing to see how it can develop into something more than theoriginal project idea. But more than anything you've got to really want to doit. You've got to be passionate about the subject you have chosen.'

www.bethdooner.co.uk

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1st Published 01/10/2015
last update 09/12/2022 14:51:38

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